Guten Tag yourself!
by NineTimesBlue
Summary: Sam and Dean are hunting a Poltergeist in Germany, on their ride to Bobby Dean gets terribly sick.  Of course he would never admit it.   Sick!Dean and awesome!caring!Sammy 3
1. Chapter 1

„Guten Tag yourself!"

"I can't believe he chained me, dressed up like Dracula. Oh yeah, and actually put me in lederhosen! What a lunatic!"

A involuntary shiver passed through Dean's body and the Impala swayed slightly in his line.

„I don't think I've ever met such a kinky shape-shifter before in my whole life. I mean, shifting into creatures from old horror movies? That's so old-fashioned."

Sam shook his head in disbelief and bit into his big pretzel, spreading salt crumbs all over his seat and the floor.

"Hey, don't ruin my baby, keep your salt to yourself." Dean gave him an angry look and lifted his arm to muffle a short cough into it.

"The pretzels are tasty though. They're so huge, in Texas there are only those small, crispy ones."

He greedily eyed Sam's one and wondered if he would notice if he just had one bite. Before they left he was talking to barmaids instead of stocking up with pretzels. What a pity. Of course Sam noticed his hungry eyes and intuitionally covered his treasure with his giant palm.

"No way, Dude. It's mine."

"Bitch," Dean huffed and scrubbed at his nose with his sleeve. Since they'd left Bavaria it felt somewhat tickly, not stuffy, just really itchy. He didn't know why but he had the presentiment that he could be coming down with something since his throat was also scratching suspiciously.

"Jerk," Sam winked and took a purposely huge bite, chewing contentedly and smiled amused to himself, watching his brother pout.

They drove on a bit and Dean got more and more confused because of all these German traffic signs, they could have also been Japanese. He didn't care. All he knew was that he didn't understand a thing and that he hadn't got an idea how to get to a town called Hamburg, let alone meeting up with Bobby and facing a new case.

To top it all his nose started revolting again. He gave it an annoyed rub with his knuckles. It still felt like thousands of little feathers were tickling the inside, plainly agonizing. The rubbing didn't do any good, he felt the tickling sensation growing bigger and bigger with every breath. He knew it would be hard not to explode all over the steering wheel, so he bit his lip, trying to suppress the feeling.

Fortunately, Sam didn't notice anything at all because he'd drifted off to sleep since he'd finished his pretzel (all by himself!), so Dean risked a sniff and pinched his nose shut, trying to stop the inevitable.

Sure enough he failed and inhaled sharply, bending down as an enormous sneeze ripped out of him, making him moan and gasp for air.

"_Heh'**GDZSH**-uhh"_

Startled, Sam awoke from his sleep and turned his head just in time to watch his brother taking another shuddering breath and delivering it into his hand. _"__Hhh__'__**ESHH**__-uhhh.__"_

Panicked, Sam grabbed the steering wheel in a quick motion and directed the Impala to the verge. The car stopped and he sighed with relief.

"Dude, you could have killed the both of us!"

His brother had his face buried in the crook of his arm, coughing, even longer and more painful sounding than before and Sam felt sorry for him. It was not like he hadn't noticed the coughing earlier but since he knew that Dean was a terrible sick person he had simply kept his mouth shut, which should spare him a lot of cranky answers. So he just had pretended that he hadn't noticed anything at all. But now he couldn't hide his concern anymore, it was too obvious that Dean wasn't feeling well.

"You okay?" Sam softly touched his arm.

With teary eyes Dean looked up, wiping them with one hand and rasped, "Yeh'm'fine."

He didn't believe him. He looked everything but "fine".

Sam took in his fever flushed cheeks, his sweaty forehead and his pale skin and had another try. "You sure about that?"

Dean gave him a grunt in response.

"Yeah, and now shut your fucking pie ho_hh_…_huhh__'__**TZSH**__-ehh_."

Disgusted, he took a look at his hands in which he just had sneezed.

"Ughh…Sabby please tell be you are carryigg sobe girly tissues with you."

Sam couldn't hold back a grin, his brother had snotted all over himself like a three-year-old and was desperately needing his help.

"Don't worry kiddo." He handed him a napkin he had earlier stuffed into the glove box in wise foresight.

After wiping his hands, giving his nose a hard blow and tossing the soaked tissue out of the window, he turned on the engine again.

"Let's go, we got work to do."

Sam's eyes were on him. "Do you even know where to drive?"

Another grunt. "Yeah, Sam. Hamburg's our destination."

Sam involuntary rolled his eyes. "I meant which way we have to take, genius. Have you checked the map?"

Now it was Dean's turn to roll his eyes. "Looking at maps is for losers, we'll find the right way without it, trust me."

Determinedly, Dean pushed the gas pedal and drove the Impala back onto the street, heading in the general direction of the highway.

They were driving about half an hour when the shivering began.

First, it was almost unnoticeable. Here and then a shiver would pass Dean's body, nothing too unusual for a day in autumn. But when he didn't stop shivering and even his lips turned kind of blue, Sam knew that he had to do something if Dean wasn't insightful himself.

When the next gas station appeared in his field of view, he made his brother pull over and stop to get something to eat.

While he fuelled the car, a privilege only he was allowed to do, Sam stepped into the garage, looking for some supplies he knew his brother was going to be in dire need of. Walking along the shelves he picked out a few things, putting them in the shopping bag he took from the entrance. A box of tissues, tea, soup in cans, another box of tissues.

Then he was reminded by his rumbling stomach that they hadn't had dinner yet. He turned on his heel and looked around to find something suitable. Indeed, there was a cooling shelf filled with lots of sandwiches and so on. He chose a tuna- and a ham-sandwich for Dean and a cheese sandwich and a little salad for himself. When he headed for the register, he saw Dean entering the gas station, so he changed his way and followed him unobtrusively. He did a good job, Dean wasn't aware that his brother was watching him all the time as he thumbed through some porn magazine, grumbling "They don't even have busty-asian-beauties-magazines." Then he opened another porn magazine and whistled in appreciation. "Ohh la la, hello there! God, blond girls are pretty."

Suddenly, Sam put his hand on his brother's shoulder, making him jump and gave him a grin. "Dude, you are incurable, you know that?"

Dean chuckled and wanted to follow his brother to the register, but froze right in front of the candy section instead and stared at the different sweets he found there. Gummibears, Milka-chocolate, Ferrero-Kuesschen, Jelly Beans, chocolate-cookies, …

He wasn't able to think anymore. It was like paradise.

Sam watched his brother drooling and laughed to himself. Sometimes Dean really was like a three-year-old. There were only about two people more in the gas station, causing the red haired girl on the register to yawn and tap on the table with her fingers.

"Hi." Sam broke the silence and gave her a smile.

"Hallo." The girl smiled back and pulled a strand of hair behind her ear as she kept on talking to him.

"Schreckliches Wetter draußen, findest du nicht?"

Sam eyed her confusedly and gave an embarrassed smile,

"Ahm…I'm sorry, I don't speak any German. We're just rambling by."

The girl laughed and answered him in English.

"No problem, I also speak English. Uh, I was just saying that the weather's awful. Where are you guys from?"

Her English wasn't perfect and she had a hint of accent in it, but Sam didn't mind. "Yeah, that's true…Oh, we're from Texas. Actually we're just here to uhm…go hunting with an old friend." The girl rose her eyebrows. "Oh really? What are you usually hunting?" Sam stuttered, "Uhm, deer and… wild boar."

"Cool, my father is also a hunter. Usually he sticks to deer."

Sam and the girl kept on chatting as a sound attracted their attention.

"_Hehh__…_goddammit…_Hehhh__…'__**DGTSHH**__-uhh_."

Both of them turned their heads to Dean who was wiping at his nose with his sleeve, fighting with another sneeze. "_Hihhh__'__**GZSHSH**_."

"My brother even managed to catch a cold." He pointed at the cold supplies he just had bought

"What?" Dean croaked and gave him the stink eye before launching into a harsh coughing fit.

"Wouldn't admit it of course."

The hacking went on.

"Poor guy, his cough sounds pretty bad. Does he take anything for it?"

The girl's eyes focused on Sam now.

"Uhm. I don't think so. He won't take medicine unless it tastes like sweets. He's pretty …special." Sam shrugged apologetically.

The girl disappeared behind the counter and looked for something. After a few seconds she held a bag of sweets out to him.

"What's that?" Sam inched closer and inspected the sweets.

"They're quite popular here in Germany, they're called "Rachen-Drachen", which simply means "Throat-Dragons". They have the same effect as normal cough drops, but they are shaped like little dragons, and they taste quite nice! Maybe they will work for your brother?"

Sam was speechless. He'd never seen something like this before, and he was quite stunned.

"I though so. Just keep them, and take care of your brother,"

She winked and handed him the bag of sweets, smiling knowingly.

"Thank you a lot!" Sam couldn't believe his luck and gave her a sweet smile as a way of showing his gratitude. Quickly he stored the stuff he bought in a plastic bag before Dean could see them and go cranky.

He had just put the last thing into the bag as Dean appeared next to him, his nose slightly redder than before, packed with lots of sweets.

He dropped them on the assembly line and gave Sam a content grin.

"Dude, I think I'm in heaven. Look at all those sweets!"

The girl giggled, "I'm glad you enjoy yourself here."

"Danke schoen!" Dean flirted, trying to impress her with his German.

"Oh, you speak German?" The girl wanted to know.

"Ein kleines bisschen. Ich habe es gelernt als ich mit meinem Vater jagen war." (= A little bit. I've learned it while I was hunting with my Dad.)

„Wow, that's cool!"

Sam gave his brother bitchface #17, which stood for "How come you speak German?"

The girl smiled as Dean passed her a scribbled note with his telephone number. "You gonna call me? Maybe I'll stay in Germany a little longe_hhh_…_ehhh_…_Hehh'__**RGSHH**__-uhh_."

Dean dipped his head down in the crook of his elbow and let loose another sneeze. "_Hihh'__**TSHH**__-ehh_. Uhh god, pardon me."

He looked apologetically at her and she just giggled "Gesundheit!"

"Thanks," Dean rasped and cleared his throat.

"A pretty bad cold you got there. You should let your brother take care of you." Dean's mood darkened. "No way, honey. I'm a big boy, I can take care of myself."

She shrugged and smiled at him again.

"Well, we gotta go. We've still got a lot of miles before us. Our friend is expecting us," Sam interrupted Dean's conversation with the girl abruptly and tugged at his sleeve.

"Yeah, yeah. I'm coming," Dean grumbled and followed his brother.

While they exited Dean secretly turned around and gestured the girl to phone him. She smiled in return and waved him good-bye.


	2. Chapter 2

"_Hehh…Hehh…Hehhh'__**RSHH**__-uhh_."

Yet again. That was the fourth time Sam was startled awake by his brother's sneezing. Tiredly, he turned in his seat and took a glance at him. Dean looked really exhausted but kept on driving. Sam had tried to persuade him to let him drive instead, but Dean was very stubborn. Especially when it came to driving his baby. He wouldn't let anyone else do it. Not even his brother.

"_Hehh_… Oh fuck…_Hihhhh... Huhh'__**ESHH**__-ehh_,"

Dean didn't have the time to turn away, so he sneezed all over himself, swearing like a sailor.

"Goddamit, will this never sto…_hhhh_…._hehh'__**GTSHH**_."

This time he almost smacked his head against the steering wheel, so Sam decided it would be a lot safer to stop the car. He steered to the side of the road and told Dean to listen.

"Whad's the madder, Sabby?"

Dean looked very pathetic, his eyes were red-rimmed and so was his nose. The rest of his face was pale and he looked like he just had gotten out of a grave. It scared Sam.

"Dude, you look like death warmed over! I know that there's something wrong with you!" His puppy dog eyes focused on him.

Dean opened his mouth to contradict, but all that came out was coughing. He kept on coughing for about a minute and Sam was worried he could suffocate so he rubbed in circles over his back and waited till the coughing subsided.

"Th…Thanks," Dean croaked, his face red and sweaty.

"You ready to admit that you're not fine?"

Sam pushed him to answer.

Dean sighed weakly. He was too exhausted to argue.

"Yeah Sam. I feel awful. I've been feeling awful since I woke up this morning. But it's none of your business."

Sam stroked his brother's hot cheek. This was probably the most honest thing he'd ever admitted. Sam felt somewhat proud.

"Why didn't you tell me earlier? You know I wouldn't be mad at you."

Dean shrugged and avoided his look. "I didn't want to be a bother."

Sam's lips escaped a sigh.

"You're not. It's okay, really. Let us just change seats, then you'll be able to get some rest."

"Mmmmn."

Dean opened the driver's door, stepped out and froze immediately, one hand pressed against the car for support.

"Ohh…God. I feel … dizzy."  
>His already white face turned even paler as he couldn't trust his legs anymore and was about to faint.<p>

Quickly, Sam's strong arms steadied him, guiding him to the passenger seat.

"Dean, take it easy. Easy, man." Sam gently helped him climb into the car and fastened his seat belt.

"S'mmy?" Dean weakly turned his face to him. "I don't feel that good."

Sam felt his heart twinge in sympathy, usually his brother wouldn't admit such things. This was another proof of how off he was, and how badly he needed to get some rest.

"I know, Dean. I'll look for the nearest hotel, it won't be long. Just try to sleep." Sam stroked his overheated cheek and got into the car again, closing the door silently.

"Sammy?" Dean suddenly murmured.

"Yeah?" Sam looked up from driving.

"I don't do tea."

Shivering, Dean cracked an eye open. His sight was blurry and his head ached. Slowly he moved his head around and inspected his surroundings.

It looked like a hotel room. After a reassuring glance at the other bed where Sam's clothes were piled, he knew that Sam couldn't be far away and closed his heavy eyelids again.

"_Heh'__**MKTchh**_" As he caught a sudden sneeze in his sleeve, he noticed that he was wearing one of Sam's giant hoodies and his lips escaped a sigh. He didn't remember how he got there, obviously he had been sleeping a few hours since it was already dark outside.

As a warm hand gently touched his warm cheek, he moaned and leaned in the touch.

"Dean? Hey, Dean." A soft voice whispered his name into his ear and he slowly opened his eyes. It was Sam, holding something in his hand that looked like a spoon. After a few seconds it dawned on him that it actually was a spoon. "Come on, you need to take this. Open your mouth, just for me, please." He eyed the content of the spoon which suspiciously looked like icky medicine.

"Please, Dean. I want you to feel better."

Sam leaned down and gave him a soft kiss on his hot forehead.

"You're burning up. We outta do something to lower your fever."

Dean nodded slowly, too out of it to say anything at all, and complied. "Good boy," Sam stroked his cheek as Dean made a face because of the awful taste. After he finally had gulped it down, his brother offered him an unscrewed water bottle. "Drinking helps, you know."

Dean eyed the bottle but didn't drink from it.

"What?" Sam gave him a worried look.

"Mahhvesmtea?" He slurred and blushed slightly.

"Come again?" Sam sat down and inched closer to him.

"May I have some tea instead?" Dean repeated quietly.

A smile spread over Sam's face as he answered.

"Sure. Lemme just get up."

As he entered the kitchen he chuckled.

"You don't do tea, yeah, sure. Haha, aww, Dean."

When Sam returned, Dean was quivering with cold and had wrapped his arms around himself, teeth chattering.

"Aww, poor you. You're really feeling awful, aren't you?"

Sam set the tray down on the bed stand and sat down next to his brother. "Want some tea? It'll help you warm up."

He passed him the steaming mug, put an arm around him and allowed him to huddle up against him.

"You warmer?" Sam asked after a while, glad that his brother wasn't shaking anymore.

"Yeah," Dean rasped and let loose a shuddering cough into the crook of his elbow. Sam rubbed in soothing circles over his back till the coughing subsided and Dean had managed to catch his breath again.

Tiredly, he rested his head on Sam's lap and closed his eyes.

Softly, Sam stroked over his too warm cheeks, the dark stubbles building a hard contrast to his pale skin.

After a while Dean fell asleep, softly snuffling now and then. Sam didn't mind, he enjoyed taking care of his brother and he was sure that secretly Dean was enjoying being mothered by him.

He turned his head a little and snuggled closer to Sam's warmth, quietly moaning in his sleep. A smile hushed over Sam's lips as he gently played with Dean's soft hear, twirling it between his fingers.

Almost he had also fallen asleep, but then he felt his brother stir.

Sleepily he looked up just to see Dean bringing up a hand to his face, giving his nose a quick rub, and resting it near. He knew what came next and reached next to him to grab a handful of Kleenex.

As Dean's breathing became erratical and shallow, he covered his nose with the tissues, waiting for the inevitable. "_Hhhh…Huhh?...Hehh….Heh'__**DRSHyew**_!"

Dean snapped forward, his whole body shaking with the release of the sneeze. "Bless you."

Carefully, Sam dabbed at his nostrils which were damp and a little reddened by now. It was amazing that Dean didn't wake up, Sam had never heard of someone who could sneeze while sleeping.

Well, Dean wasn't like everybody else, he was very special.


	3. Chapter 3

As Sam awoke a few hours later Dean had gotten rid of the blankets and the hoodie and was lying on the couch with his bare chest.

No good sign.

Of course this alarmed him and he quickly checked for fever. Sleepily, Dean opened his eyes and tried to swat away Sam's hand, but he was so weak, that he didn't even hit him.

"Shhh, you're okay. I just wanted to check if your fever is still that high."

This seemed to calm him down a little, with a contented grunt he balled up himself on the bed and closed his eyes again. Even though his whole body was covered in sweat, Dean actually felt a little colder which reassured his brother that the meds were working. When he was sure that his brother had drifted off to sleep again, he carefully covered him with the blanket to keep him warm.

Exhausted because he hadn't got a lot of sleep, Sam went to bed, leaving the door open so he could hear and observe Dean.

As soon as his cheek touched his pillow, he fell asleep.

The next morning he was startled awake by Dean singing hoarsely and out of tune while having a shower. He was relieved, that only meant that Dean was feeling quite okay again. "…one lonely Sunday morning, her long hair blowing in the midwinter wind, and I don't know how she found me_h…huh_…uh no - _hehh…hh'__**KTSH**__yew_!" (.com/watch?v=U4Jp56wmSLA&feature=fvst )

"God damnit," he heard his brother mutter as a coughing fit overtook him. His cough still sounded pretty bad but he quickly regained his composure again.

Sleepily, Sam rubbed his eyes and started shivering as soon as he got out of his bed. As he took a look into the empty fridge Dean got out of the bathroom, wearing towels around his waist and his head.

"Dude, shower's awesome."

Sam smiled to himself and involuntary remembered his brother's love to showers. "It's no steam shower though."

Even if a hotel was crappy, a good shower could always cheer him up.

Sam smiled to himself and boiled some water.

When he arrived with a tray and two mugs, Dean was already sitting at the table eating a self-made sandwich.

"Dude, is that tea? Seriously?" Dean gave him a doubting look.

"Yeah. It is," Sam quietly cleared his throat, "I thought it'll be good for you. You know, you were pretty out of it yesterday."

Dean rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah. But yesterday's long gone. I want some coffee."

Sam shrugged. "Make it yourself, then."

This earned him another roll of eyes as Dean reluctantly snatched the mug from the tray, too lazy to do what he was told.

Sam smiled again. This trick worked every time. Dean's laziness was hilarious and so predictable.

Besides, a little tea wouldn't be too bad for him either since his throat felt strangely dry.

"Cheers! Oh, by the way. I added some honey. You like honey?"

Sam grinned and Dean looked like he was about to kill him.

"You sneaky bitch."

"I love you too, jerk."

After breakfast they packed their stuff in the back of the Impala and Sam entered the driver side.

"Hey, what do you think you're doing?" Dean gave him the stink eye.

"Uhm…Driving?" Sam answered, scratching his ear.

"Forget it, baby's mine. There's no wa_hhh_…way you get to dri_hh_…drive _heh_…her…_hhh'__**RSGSHH**__-uhh, hihh'__**GZDSH**_."

Dean looked at his hands in disgust and considered wiping them on his jeans. Sam's lips escaped a laugh.

"See? That's why I'm driving."

He winked and handed him a clean tissue he had stored in the pocket of his jacket before. Dean pouted, but accepted it.

"Okay, but if you screw up my car, I'm gonna kill you."

"Sure thing." Sam nodded. He knew the procedure, he always had to go through it.


	4. Chapter 4

They were driving for about 3 hours when Dean's coughing really started to worry him. It became longer and more painful sounding every minute and Dean wasn't talking at all - not even complaining about Sam being the one to drive. He was sure that Dean was in pain but didn't want to admit it. He could be so stubborn sometimes.

"You okay?" Sam tried and gave his brother a quick glance.

"Mmm." Dean grunted and turned away, not wanting to let his brother see how hard he was trying to hold back some more coughing.

"You want a cough drop?" Sam risked, almost expecting Dean to hit or bite him after that question.

"Nah, they taste awful." Uh. Okay. That was not quite what he had expected as an answer. He shrugged and kept on following the highway they were on.

After another half an hour of driving Dean broke the silence as he failed to stifle a sneeze against his wrist. "_Hhh'__**MGTXSH**_"

Sam cringed, that sounded quite messy. Dean groaned and rubbed at his itchy nose.

Suddenly Sam remembered his previous shopping tour and pointed at the glove department. "Hey Dean, open that for me, will you?"

With another unwilling grunt Dean had opened it and found a small bag of sweets. "Rachen Drachen? What the hell is that?"

Dean furrowed one brow and eyed his brother quizzically.

"Some sweets, like gummi bears, you know, only shaped like dragons. I got them from the nice lady from the gas station." Dean tore the bag open and peeked into it.

"I don't want to eat dragons, they … smell strange." He sniffed liquidly.

Sam wondered how Dean could smell anything at all with that stuffy nose of his and switched tactics.

"Well, doesn't matter. Then I'll eat them myself." He stole the bag from Dean and stuck one of the little sweet dragons into his mouth. The menthol wasn't that obvious at all, he could only taste a little hint of it - its effect was overwhelming, though. The single dragon soothed his scratchy throat and Sam felt a huge relief. Greedily, he took another one out of the bag.

"What the hell…Sam?! You really like 'em?"

With a quick movement Dean had snatched the bag and eyed one of the dragons cautiously. "Here goes nothing."

He chewed it for a while and suddenly his face lit up, and he shoved a handful of little dragons into his mouth.

"Hey, they ain't half bad. Actually they taste quite nice."

Sam noticed that his voice sounded less stuffed up - thanks to the menthol - and smiled to himself. He should remember stocking up on them before they left the German border.

The ride was slow and boring. Sam noticed that his eyelids were getting heavier and heavier and was alarmed as he almost dozed off behind the steering wheel. Besides, his throat had begun to itch again. Awesome.

He took a reassuring look at Dean, who was peacefully sleeping and snoring softly on the passenger seat, then one on his watch.

It was early afternoon, they should get something to eat since they hadn't had anything after breakfast. Strangely, he didn't feel hungry at all.

Well, maybe Dean was. Besides, Sam could really use a break.

On the next possibility he pulled off of the road and stopped at some gas station. As soon as the tires stood still, Dean sneezed himself awake.

"_Hhhr'__**GDSH**__-SHh_"

"Huh? Did I miss anything?" He looked hilarious, his eyes were sleepy and his hair was a mess.

Sam yawned. "Not really. I just wanted to get something to eat and take a look at the map to make sure we're right." Dean scratched himself behind his ear.

"Well, I could go and grab some food and you do the map-thingy?"

Sam looked up from the map. "Yeah, sounds like a deal. Thanks."

After 10 minutes Dean returned, complaining about the long queue of people in front of him. "Sam?" He didn't get a reply. As he sat down next to Sam he realized that his brother had fallen asleep, his head resting on the map. Dean chuckled, usually Sam wasn't the kind of person to do that. Except for when… Dean went quiet and took a concerned look at his younger brother. Gently, he shook his shoulder and whispered, "Hey Sammy, let's swap seats, okay?"

Rubbing his eyes, he nodded and slowly got out of the car. Dean scooted over and took over the steering wheel. "Oh, and I got us something to eat. Hungry?" He held out a cheese sandwich for Sam, but he shook his head no. Dean shrugged and put it back into the paper bag on the floor.

"And?" he looked at Sam. "And what?" he asked quietly.

"Are we on the right route?" Sam suppressed a yawn. "Oh that. Yeah, I guess we are. It's not that far anymore. We have to follow this road about half an hour, and then we'll arrive here," he pointed at an exit on the map, "from here we'll need another half an hour to pass through these little villages but then we should be in Hamburg."

He couldn't suppress a yawn this time.

"Okay, I think I got it. What about I drive and you try and get some sleep, huh? Sounds good?" Dean folded the map and stored it in the side of his door. "Mmmm. Very good." Within seconds Sam had fallen asleep again, his head resting on the window.

"I'm sorry, Sammy," Dean whispered and patted his knee. He knew what was going to happen - it had been inevitable.


	5. Chapter 5

Indeed, after a little over an hour Dean could see a road sign saying "Hamburg" and his mood lit up. "See, Sammy, we made it. We're in Hamburg!" Sam looked up, he hadn't slept at all, at least he was still as tired as before. Yawning, he had a stretch and looked out of the window.

"Wow, look at the harbour, it's beautiful, don't you think so?"

Dean mumbled something in agreement and scanned the street in front of him. "What the…" His mouth dropped open as he saw three almost naked ladies, waving them and touching their bodies seductively.

"Sammy, look at that! Is this… paradise?" Dean asked dreamily.

"No it's not, you idjit, it's the _Reeperbahn_. And now drive on, we got work to do."

Startled, the boys turned around to find Bobby sitting on their backseat. "What are you waiting for?!" Bobby smirked.

Obediently, Dean kept on driving and followed Bobby's instructions until they finally stopped in front of a small old house.

As the boys got out, Bobby gave each of them a hug and said, "Sorry about earlier, getting you here before the dark was more import than giving cheesy greetings. Let's go in and I'll explain everything to you." The three of them entered the house and made themselves comfortable on the sofa in the living room.

While Sam was yawning and having a stretch, Dean was sneezing deafeningly into the crook of his left elbow.

"_Hrrr'__**GZSH**__shh_."

"You doing alright?"

Bobby appeared next to them and handed each a bottle of beer, a quizzical look on his face.

As to answer the question Dean started coughing involuntary - thick and long - and it visibly took him a lot of effort to settle himself again. "Coming down with a cold?"

Dean snuffled and gave a shrug. "I'm okay."

At this, Sam rolled his eyes.

"How did you get to Germany, anyway?" Bobby looked surprised.

"Dean pissed off a witch, and kazaaaam, the Impala was standing in front of some sign saying 'Cologne.'"

Bobby chuckled, "Oh, okay. I've never heard of anything like that, but I won't complain. Since you are already here, you can also help me with my case."

"_Hehhh'__**GZRSH**__-ehhh_."

Dean looked up from his hands, looking for something to wipe them on.

"Boy, keep your snot to yourself, you don't want us to get sick either, do you?" Sam rolled his eyes and thought "Too late." as he felt his throat burning and aching badly. He grumbled something about 'being back in a minute' and disappeared in the bathroom.

"_Heh'__**eKshh**__-uhh_." Sam groaned in pain. He was definitely going to get sick too. If the terrible pain in his throat wasn't enough to prove, the sneeze surely was. He sighed and splashed some cold water into his face before returning into the living room.

"Alright boys, we are most certainly dealing with a poltergeist. Actually poltergeists aren't that much of a problem but this one's different. It can…"

"_Hih'__**YESH**__-uhh_."

Two pair of eyes were facing Dean now who was fiddling around with the shredded rests of his last tissue, trying to find a dry spot.

"Sorry," he said guiltily.

"Never mind," Bobby continued, "Well, the special ability is, that it can actually move on from house to house, it's not bound to just one. I've never seen anything like that before, so I thought I'd rather call you. It's always good to know to have some back-up, especially when…"

"_Huhhh'__**DZRSHSH**__-uhh_. Agh, I'b sorry. Agaid."

Dean was pressing the back of his hand to his nose, sniffling madly to try and keep it from running.

Bobby rolled his eyes in annoyance and handed him a roll of toilet paper.

"Thaggs. "

"Blow your nose, boy, I can barely make out what you're saying,"

he commanded with a laugh.

While Dean was noisily blowing his nose, Sam tried to clear his throat unobtrusively.

"So, how do we kill that son of a bitch?" He raised his eyebrows.

"Well, like any other ghost, too. Burn the bones. The problem is that I haven't even got his name when it was still human. I need you for research."

"Waid, I am barely able to flirt id German, how should I be able to udderstadd ady books?"

"There is such a thing called 'internet'. You've ever heard of that? It can help you translating."

"Add what about you?"

"Ich verstehe Deutsch, du Depp, ich brauche keinen Übersetzer."

(= I understand German, you idjit, I don't need a translator.)

Puzzled, Dean stared at him.

"Okay, whatever you've just said. I get what you meandd."

"Alright, the both of you do some research at the library, I'll see what I can find out by interviewing the locals. I'm sure at least one person must have heard of this strange ghost. See you around, boys."

"So…What exa_hh_…_heh_…-exactly are we looking for?" Dean eyed the huge amount of book shelves confusedly.

"Anything related to these strange murders near Reeperbahn, maybe we'll find a pattern between the victims, which could help us with our case."

"Mmm." Dean grunted in response and crinkled his nose.

Sam took a couple of old looking books out of the shelf and dropped them next to Dean on the table producing a small dust cloud.

"Dude, keep your dust to yours_ehhh_…self-_**HHRSHH**__-uhh_. Ugh, see what I me_hh_…mean? _Hhh'__**GDTSH**__sh_."

An angry Dean looked up from his book and threw his brother a fiendish sideways glance.

"Sorry. I can't help that you have a sensitive nose." Sam grinned at him.

"My fucking nose is not sensi_hhh_…_hehhh_…" Dean started but as to contradict his nose started revolting again, making his breath quiver.

Determined not to let Sammy triumph, he pressed his fist under his nose and held his breath. Sam bit back a smug grin and watched his brother struggling, his nose twitching madly and his eyes tearing slightly.

Feeling a little guilty, he averted his eyes and opened one of the books he had found. Luckily he had also found a German dictionary, so could look up a few words to understand what the books were about. After he had skimmed a couple of pages, he heard a hasty intake of air and looked up. It was his elder brother.

Rolling his eyes in annoyance, Dean turned his head away from him and let loose a messy sneeze in the crook of his elbow.

"_Hhhh'__**rrESH**__-uhh_. Say a wordd andd I kill you."

Sam chuckled with a hint of schadenfreude and dedicated himself back to the book. The hours passed and the boys gradually lost interest because all they could find were myths about nymphs like the Lorelei but nothing about ghosts in particular.

"I'm starting to think that the Germans left poltergeists out purposely! What's so bad about them?"

Sam closed his book with a snap and send another cloud of dust into the air, much to Dean's disapproval.

"_Hehh_…Sab, I ha_hhh_…hate you!" He got barely the words out before sneezing convulsively into his hands. "_Hhhhr'__**GTZSH**__-uhh, hehh…hhhhr…Heh'__**GDzSH**__-uhh._"

This time, Sam couldn't hold back and laughed at him.

"Dean, you're adorable, you know that?"

With a wet sniff Dean faced him, mimicking him. "Adorable. Yeah, sure."

His nose had gotten runny and he dragged a wrist under it, sniffing helplessly. "Uh, I'll be right back," he grumbled, standing up to go to the bathroom.

"Okay, see you then."

"_Hhhh'__**GZSH**__-uhh_…ohh…Fu_hh_…Fucking Sam with his fucking _duhhh_…dust. _Heh'rr__**ESHhh**__-yew_. Uh god, I'b disgustigg." Dean delivered another sneeze into the wad of toilet paper in his hands, trying to blow but finding his nose too blocked up to do so.

Sniffing thickly, he tried to breath but ended up coughing noisily.

Suddenly, the door of the unisex bathroom opened and a brunette woman entered, a little started by his appearance.

"Whad?" Dean asked her as she continued staring at him.

"Ich glaube wir haben uns schon einmal getroffen," she said, giving him an insecure smile. (= I believe we've met before.)

"Dodn't understadd no fu_hh_-fuckigg Germa…_hhhh'__**GDSHhh**__-uhh_. Sorry."

Her eyes lit up and she flashed him a confident smile. "Actually, I'm really sure I have met you before! You're the guy with the cold from the gas station, the guy who's hunting with his brother and father, am I right?"

Dean, who had buried his cherry red nose in a heap of toilet paper, stared at her in disbelief. "I dodn't thigg so, the ode I got to kndow was blondde."

"You ever heard about dying one's hair?"

"True. Sorry agaidd." Dean blushed, the colour of his cheeks resembling the one of his nose.

"So, whad are you doigg here?"

"I am working."

"Add what exagtly?"

"Research."

"You are very talkative, you kndow thad?"

"Yeah, I'm aware."

Dean smiled, for some reason he liked her.

"Do you thigg you could help be? I'b also doigg sobe research."

"In the bathroom?"

Dean rolled his eyes. "Just follow be, please."


	6. Chapter 6

"Hey Sabby, see whad I found in the bathroob."

Sam's face lit up when the recognition overcame him. "Hey, aren't you that lovely German girl from that gas station?"

"Yeah, exactly. My name's Marlene." She smiled at him and threw Dean a look which was saying 'See? He recognized me at once.'

While Sam was talking to her, Dean blew his nose, producing a lot squelched sounds and a huge amount of snot.

"Dude, you are disgusting."

"Thaggs, I love you, too." Dean rolled his eyes, "You know whad? You do sobe research, and I'll get us something to eat. Sounds good to you?"

"Yeah, okay. I'm okay with that." 

Dean went along the street and looked out for some kind of diner or take-away. He found a lot of fish restaurants but he wasn't very fond of fish. Suddenly, he saw a pharmacy on his left hand sight and considered going in there. Of course it was embarrassing but there was no Sam far and wide, he wouldn't even know. Looking around but finding no Sam in eyeshot, we went into the shop.

It wasn't very crowded in it but the smell of eucalyptus was overwhelming. He was waiting for about 5 minutes in the queue until it was his turn. A dark-haired man in white scrubs faced him and gave him a smile.

"Ahm…Hi, cad I have ady kidd of dosepray, please?"

"Entschuldigen Sie, ich spreche kein Englisch."

Dean winced. Crap, he had totally forgotten about it.

"I…uhm…Ich…brauche…ahm…"

Nervously he stammered in utter need of fitting words but didn't find any. With a sigh he gave in and pointed at his nose which was cherry red and runny. Then he gave a light sniff to demonstrate how clogged up his nose as.

The pharmacist seemed to understand and disappeared into another room. Dean took a small look over his shoulder and was startled how many people were standing behind him. He didn't feel comfortable.

In the meantime the pharmacist had returned and proudly offered him a box of tissues. Dean blushed deeply and shook his head no.

The man's smile dropped and he seemed to be lost in thoughts.

Suddenly his face lit up and he disappeared again. A little later he returned and handed Dean some nosespray.

Dean sent a silent prayer to heaven and said, "Yeah, thanks." before paying and getting out as fast as he could, avoiding the amused looks from the people behind him.

Carefully, Dean inserted a dose of the spray in each nostril and sniffed wetly. He didn't notice if it was working or not since it only made his nose tickle again. "S_uhhh_…Sudd of a bitch," he grumbled and gave his nose a rough swipe with the back of his hand.

Suddenly, he saw a familiar face approaching and he quickly stored the spray in the pocket of his trouser.

"Karl Joseph Schmidt!" Sam shouted out to him, grinning brightly.

"My name is Dean, you remember? I'm your brother."

"No, I meant the ghost, he used to be Karl Joseph Schmidt when he was still alive."

"Oh. That's cool, good job, Sammy."

"Thanks." Sam's smile grew bigger,

"Hey, you sound less stuffed up. Did you take anything?"

A hint of blush crept over Dean's face.

"What? No. I got better as soon as I had left the library with your fucking dusty books."

Sam had noticed how Dean had nervously pushed something deeper into his trouser pocket and nodded. "Oh, that's good, then."

"Yup," he shrugged it off.

Sam pinched the bridge of his nose absently and stared at nothing in particular.

"Headache?" Dean asked.

"Uh…What?" Sam seemed a little startled, like he had just woken up and sleepily rubbed his nose.

"Never mind, wanna go and ask a few locals about this guy?"

"Yeah, sounds like a plan."

"Oh, by the way, what about that food you wanted to get?"

"Uhm…"

As Dean drove the Impala back to Bobby's, he took a quick look at his brother who seemed to be a little tired since he kept dozing off every few minutes.

"You okay, Sammy?" he asked with a little concern in his voice as he opened his heavy eyelids.

"I don't know," he mumbled, "I just feel kinda dizzy."

Actually he looked more than dizzy, his cheeks were flushed and his whole face had a sweaty shimmer to it.

Dean was pretty sure that his little brother was running a fever. He wondered why he hadn't noticed it before, maybe the good news were just too overwhelming.

A sigh escaped Dean's lips, "We'll better get you to Bobby, then."

As Sam didn't complain, Dean knew that he must be really feeling unwell and a feeling of guilt crept on him, making him drive even faster.

Dean gave the door a few knocks and waited until Bobby opened up.

With a steadying arm around Sam's waist, he helped his brother inside.

"_Heh'__**ktchh**__-uhh_."

Dean felt some spray on his arm and rolled his eyes in annoyance as Bobby gave him a "keep your snot to yourself"-look.  
>Innocently, Dean scratched his head and grumbled,<p>

"Hey, it wasn't me for a change."

Bobby's eyes travelled up to Sammy in surprise, who was sniffling slightly and totally looking out of it.

"Boy, you alright?"

Bobby's eyes mustered Sam's pale face and the suspicious red tinge of his cheeks.

"I feel a little cold," he admitted and wrapped his arms around himself for warmth, shivering a little even though he had his jacket on.

With the back of his hand Bobby felt Sam's temperature and shook his head as he found it warmer than it ought to be.

"You are burning up!" Bobby sounded concerned as Sam leaned a little into his touch.

"We need to get your fever down, come here," Dean guided him to the sofa and helped him pull off his coat and boots.

"I can't believe that you are John Winchester's boys, one is a sneezing mess, the other one has a fever, …"

Bobby smiled to himself and gently pushed Sam down onto the couch.

"Just relax a little, Dean and I work on our case. We'll wake you later."

Sam nodded tiredly and snuggled into the blanket Bobby had draped over him.

While Dean grabbed Sam's laptop from the table, Bobby filled up a glass of water in the kitchen sink and brought it back to Sam, placing it on the table nearby so that he could reach it.

When he tiptoed back, he heard a quiet voice calling him.

"Bobby?"

The older man turned on his heel. "Yeah, Sam?"

"Thank you." His voice was sleepy but sincere.

"It's alright," Bobby soothed and stroked his overheated cheek,  
>"I'm here."<p>

With his last words ringing in his ears, he fell asleep, feeling loved and protected.

Quickly, Dean closed the kitchen door behind him and delivered a sneeze into his elbow.

_"Hhh'__**RGSH**__-uhh_." Sniffling, he looked up and his teary eyes unfocused once again. "_Hhhh_…" His nose gave a twitch and his breath hitched uncontrollably. "_Hhh'__**DGZSH**__-shh_. Ugh, dabbit."

The force of the sneeze had doubled him over and he straightened, rubbing his nose.

Bobby gave him a sceptical look as Dean wiped his nose on his sleeve.

"Whad? No 'bless you'?"

"You don't look so hot, either," Bobby remarked and reached his hand out to feel his forehead but Dean shirked away.

"I'b good, it's jusd a cold."

Bobby rolled his eyes and grumbled,

"Whatever. It's getting late, we should get some rest too, we'll do some further investigation tomorrow."

As if to prove the point Dean gave a jaw-popping yawn and rubbed his eyes. "Sounds good."

Dean heard the sound of an alarm clock and buried his head deeper into his pillow, trying to keep on sleeping. He felt awful, his throat was still sore and to top it all his nose was so stuffed up that his attempt at breathing resolved in a gurgling sniff.

"Ughh…" He crawled out of bed and switched the alarm clock off. Yawning he went into the bathroom, unwinded half a roll of toilet paper

and blew his nose noisily.

The blowing made his nose look even redder but it didn't ease the congestion. "Fuck," he thought and fumbled for the nose spray in his pocket. It wasn't there. Dean felt like hitting something.

Where could it be? After he scanned the whole room several times, another thought came to his mind. His leather jacket. Mentally giving a scream of victory, he found the spray in the pocket of his jacket and generously dosed himself up.

"I hope id's fuckigg worki…_hihhh_…_Hhhrr'__**DGZSHshh**_.  
><em>Hhh'<em>_**GTSHhh**__-uhh, hhih'__**YESH**__-uhh. _Ugh, working."

Dean rolled his eyes, for some reason the spray always made him sneeze a lot before it actually worked.

Blowing his nose again, he finally felt some relief.

It felt really good to breath through one's nose.

When he tiptoed into the living room, he found his brother as a shivering mess on the couch. "Oh, you're awake?"

Sam lifted his head and nodded slowly, his eyelids too heavy to stay open. "How are you feeling?" Dean sat down next to him and pressed his hand to his brother's forehead, finding it still quite warm.

"I'm so cold." Goosebumps had risen all over his bare arms.

Although Sam kept on shivering, his clothes were soaked with sweat. As Dean noticed it, he found that he'd have to do something.

"I'll be right back." He disappeared and left Sam on his own.

A few minutes later he returned with a set of new clothes and a warm washing rag. "What are you doing?" Sam slurred and looked at him in confusion, the fever making him light-headed.

"I'll make you feel better. Just get out of your shirt."

Too out of it to understand, Sam tried to free himself from his shirt - with no success. It was too much effort for his weakened body. Dean sighed and helped him. Now his brother was trembling with cold but Dean already had a plan. He soaked a washing rag with warm water and gently ran it over Sam's bare skin, warming him and washing all of the sweat off.

When he was finished he carefully dried him with a towel and helped him into fresh clothes. Contentedly, Sam huddled deeper into his hoodie and sighed. "Thank you."

Dean smiled and covered him with a blanket as Bobby entered the room, gesturing him to come.

Dean followed Bobby into the kitchen so that Sam could get a little rest and closed the door silently.


	7. Chapter 7

"Watch out, don't destroy the salt lines around the window!" Bobby told him as Dean tried to open a window.

"So, the guy is called Karl Joseph Schmidt? It's like Miller, or Jones, there are thousands with that name!"

Dean shrugged, "I know. It's better than nothing!"

"Then let's split up and ask a few locals. I warn you, don't go near Reeperbahn. It's the main hunting area of the poltergeist," Bobby told him.

"What if I meet the poltergeist anyway?" Dean reached for the rifle leaning against the wall but Bobby batted his hand away.

"You can't just go running around with a rifle. People don't know that it's only rocksalt in it."

He opened the cupboard and took a little box out.

"Here, it's salt. It'll also work, and it's less suspicious."

Dean made a grumpy face but took the salt anyway.

"Okay, thanks."

"We'll meet here again in a couple of hours, hopefully we've found something by then."

With a sigh, Dean untied his tie, got out of his suit and slumped down on a chair. "Nothing," he grumbled, "all this work for nothing."

Sam lifted his head from the heap of pillows and looked at his brother, "Not successful?"

Surprised that he was awake, Dean turned around and admitted, "No, not even a tiny little bit. I asked every person called Schmidt in this goddamn town about this guy. I got zero. It's depressing."

"You what? Why didn't you tell me! I found out who he was just yesterday, you didn't have to do all the interviewing," Sam looked at him with feverish eyes.

"How did you do that? I took the laptop with me into the kitchen to make sure you really sleep."

"You didn't lock the door, I retrieved it when you were asleep. I couldn't sleep anyway."

Dean gave a heartfelt groan because of the irony of it and buried his head in his arms. "No wonder you feel like shit today."

"Sorry, I couldn't help it."

"Mmm."

That was the angriest sounding "Mmm" Sam had ever heard.

Sniffling, Sam sat up and grabbed the laptop, which he had hidden under the table, and opened it.

After a short while he turned the screen so that Dean could read.

"Here, that's what I found about him. He had been sort of a bouncer and people were scared of him, back to the year 1961. Apparently he had worked here in Hamburg while the Beatles were here, you know, before they got famous. And…well, the weirdest thing is…"

"_Hehhh'__**GZTSHSH**_!"

Suddenly, Dean's head snapped forwards and he knocked it painfully against the table. Rubbing his head, he gave a series of curse words every sailor would have been proud of.

"…hjgaefzgsqjebnundfsiljkiugendskuhkls…**SONOFABITCH**!"

"You okay?" Sam asked, slightly amused.

"I hit my fucking eye. It hurts like hell!" Dean looked up and his left eye was watering a little.

"Dude, you're so clumsy." Sam grinned.

"You're so clumsy," Dean mimicked him and pressed his hand against his throbbing eye to try and alleviate the pain.

"Well, anyway, the weirdest thing is, that the guy just disappeared. Nobody had seen him since this one day in July where he was supposed to make sure nobody was disturbing this one rock concert."

"I wonder if the Beatles were involved. Rumour is, they were really bad boys back then." Dean mumbled,

"I bet it was George. He always seemed so quiet. Too quiet if you ask me."

Sam gave him a blank look.

"Uh. Yeah. No, I don't think it was George. By the way, he's dead now, you know? Died of cancer in 2001."

"Why do you know that? Secretly a Beatles fan?"

"I read. Besides, you're the Beatles fan," Sam winked at him and suppressed a yawn.

Dean rolled his eyes and stole the laptop from him.

"You. Sleep. Now. And don't let me catch you secretly taking this laptop back from me. I manage it on my own, we clear?"

Sam huddled into his blanket and murmured,

"Okay. But please don't leave without me, I'm coming with you. I won't let you hunt alone."

"Sleep tight," Dean gently stroked Sam's dishevelled hair and went into the kitchen to wait for Bobby.

Bobby returned home about half an hour later and Dean was scanning through the article he had found on the internet once again.

"God damn, why does everything translated by Google sound like it has been translated by Yoda? There is no structure!"

Dean shook his head in annoyance.

"Learn German, then." Bobby gave him a grin as he entered the room.

"So, did you find anything?"

Bobby shrugged.

"Not all that much, just that this guy used to be a bouncer back in 1961 and that a lot of people hated his guts."

"Yeah, I got that, too. Well, rather Sammy found it."

Bobby cocked an eyebrow at him. "Sam did? How is that?"

"Stole the laptop from the kitchen, has been doing research the whole night long."

"Idjit."

"Soo, do you have any idea of what to do next?"

Bobby opened the fridge and took out two cans of beer. Handing one to Dean, he sat down.

"Not really. But I think visiting Reeperbahn is worth a shot, even though it is dangerous."

Dean took a sip of his beer and shrugged. "Yeah, it probably is."

"Let's not waste any time, we'll be back here before dinner, Sammy won't notice a thing."


End file.
